Icy conditions contribute to 19-car pileup in Freetown

Icy conditions on Route 24 between exits 8 and 9 contributed to a 19-car accident Monday night that injured seven people, according to state and Freetown police.

CURT BROWN

FREETOWN — Icy conditions on Route 24 between exits 8 and 9 contributed to a 19-car accident Monday night that injured seven people, according to state and Freetown police.

The crashes were reported at 9:17 p.m. and caused state police to close Route 24 northbound as well as the high-speed lane on Route 24 southbound, said Trooper Nicole Morrell, a state police spokeswoman.

Seven people were injured in the crashes, none seriously, Freetown Fire Chief Gary Silvia said, and all of the injuries involved neck or back pain.

Conditions were treacherous, Silvia said.

“It was a sheet of ice. You couldn't even stand on it,” he said.

Berkley and Fall River ambulances took four injured people to Morton Hospital in Taunton and three to Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, officials said.

In addition to the 19 vehicles involved in the crash, Police Chief Carlton Abbott said there were other vehicles that had spun out.

Although state trucks sanded and salted the highway, conditions were so icy that they hindered police efforts to respond to the accident scene, officials said.

Vehicles were sliding and crashing as Officer Mike Connell responded to the crashes and his police cruiser was nearly struck several times, Abbott said. The police chief said Connell safely removed some of the passengers from their vehicles and brought them “up on a hill and out of danger.”

Freetown police were the first to respond to the accident and assisted state police at the crash, the chief said.

All lanes on Route 24, north and southbound, reopened at 10:49 p.m., according to state police.

Monday night wasn't the first time there have been accidents on this section of Route 24 between exits 8 and 9 when it has frozen over, officials said.

“There's a history with that road,” Abbott said. “I don't know what it is. Officers have had problems with just standing on that road.”